Surgeon General David Satcher, left, speaks with Dr. Louis Sullivan, president, Morehouse School of Medicine, at a conference to mobilize African Americans around the rising threat of AIDS in their communities.
The number of AIDS deaths is 16,767, down from 50,877 in 1995.1
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus convenes a Congressional hearing on the impact of AIDS in the Latino community.2
MINORITY AIDS INITIATIVE LAUNCHED
By 1999, African Americans made up only 13 percent of the U.S. population but they accounted for 43 percent of all new AIDS cases. Similarly, Latinos represented 14 percent of the U.S. population and 22 percent of new AIDS cases.
The alarming upward trend of AIDS incidence in the minority community led U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, under President Clinton, to declare “a public health emergency,” noting that “the complexion of the epidemic has changed.”
To confront the health disparities that were contributing to higher rates of HIV/AIDS in minority communities, the Congressional Black Caucus began the Minority AIDS Initiative in fiscal year 1999. Congress responded by allocating $156 million to fund Minority AIDS Initiative efforts.
Since its inception, the Minority AIDS Initiative has realized positive outcomes, including an improvement in the availability of services and access to care for minorities, and an increase in the involvement of minorities in the planning process.
